Medical researchers are using virtual reality to treat phobias, PTSD and to even train surgeons.

Tears, anxiety, pain. Going to the doctor to get an injection can mean all this for a child, and sometimes for the hapless parent too. Infants do not often remember the pain from an injection but toddlers and older children very often come to associate visits to doctors with the unpleasant jab. The trauma of childhood injections is so common that websites that dispense with medical or parenting advice all have a column dedicated to how to deal with a child’s fear of needles.

Periodic shots for vaccinations are bad enough but what if a child has haemophilia and needs to be stuck with a needle every few days for blood infusions? Clinicians at an Ohio hospital, who have seen hundreds of paediatric haemophilic patients and their parents struggle through the experience, are now witnessing a welcome change. All that is needed was a little virtual reality.

Haemophilic children at the Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus have been enrolled in a pilot study that is testing how a virtual reality game can keep patients engaged while they receive their shots or transfusions. The game called Voxel Bay has been specifically created for children and has been developed by the hospital’s haemophilia team and students from the Ohio State University's Advanced Computing Center for the Arts and Design.

Here is six-year-old Brady Bowman using the virtual reality headset that has been designed to be disposable and lightweight to enter Voxel Bay’s immersive environment of penguins, pirates and hermit crabs. Most importantly, the headset is hands-free to enable the necessary medical procedure.

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There has been a lot of hype about virtual reality for many years but until recently, real life applications of virtual worlds have been elusive. But now companies life Google and Facebook are investing heavily in virtual reality. Google has a simple cardboard headset called Google Cardboard that allows 360 video and very simple virtual reality and now has come up with the more advanced Daydream. Facebook bought Oculus VR , the company that created the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset, in 2014.

While virtual reality is raising the bar in gaming and move making, medical researchers are making use of the investment and interest in the technology to look look at wider applications medicine resulting in a sudden surge in medical virtual reality application – at least in experimental stages. The University of Southern California has a Medical Virtual Reality group that studies and develops virtual reality simulations to be used in psychology, medicine, neuroscience and physical and occupational therapy. The group has a special on virtual reality for mental heath therapy, motor and cognitive skill rehabilitation and clinical skill training. For example, the group has developed virtual patients for rookie doctors and clinicians to practice and improve their skills without the risk of harming a human being in need of medical help. They are also using virtual reality to help treat soldiers with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

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Medical researchers are working on virtual reality simulations to treat phobias like a fear of heights or a fear of spiders. Others are developing virtual reality tools that can help patients, especially children, too get used to hospital environments even before they are admitted so that they are not intimidated by being in a hospital. Software developers in Canada are also creating interactive virtual spaces to help surgeons train for complex operations. The technology allows a surgeon to be in a virtual operating room and connects the surgeon’s real hands to the virtual reality version of the doctor so that the doctor can actually run through the movements of an entire surgery. Take a look at Mashable News’ report on the experiment.

The right machine can save water, power consumption, time, energy and your clothes from damage.

In 2010, Han Rosling, a Swedish statistician, convinced a room full of people that the washing machine was the greatest invention of the industrial revolution. In the TED talk delivered by him, he illuminates how the washing machine freed women from doing hours of labour intensive laundry, giving them the time to read books and eventually join the labour force. Rosling’s argument rings true even today as it is difficult to deny the significance of the washing machine in our everyday lives.

For many households, buying a washing machine is a sizable investment. Oddly, buyers underestimate the importance of the decision-making process while buying one and don’t research the purchase as much as they would for a television or refrigerator. Most buyers limit their buying criteria to type, size and price of the washing machine.

Visible technological advancements can be seen all around us, making it fair to expect a lot more from household appliances, especially washing machines. Here are a few features to expect and look out for before investing in a washing machine:

Cover your basics

Do you wash your towels every day? How frequently do you do your laundry? Are you okay with a bit of manual intervention during the wash cycle? These questions will help filter the basic type of washing machine you need. The semi-automatics require manual intervention to move clothes from the washing tub to the drying tub and are priced lower than a fully-automatic. A fully-automatic comes in two types: front load and top load. Front loading machines use less water by rotating the inner drum and using gravity to move the clothes through water.

Simple steps to get the best from your washing machineSimple steps to get the best from your washing machineSimple steps to get the best from your washing machine

Size matters

The size or the capacity of the machine is directly proportional to the consumption of electricity. The right machine capacity depends on the daily requirement of the household. For instance, for couples or individuals, a 6kg capacity would be adequate whereas a family of four might need an 8 kg or bigger capacity for their laundry needs. This is an important factor to consider since the wrong decision can consume an unnecessary amount of electricity.

Machine intelligence that helps save time

In situations when time works against you and your laundry, features of a well-designed washing machine can come to rescue. There are programmes for urgent laundry needs that provide clean laundry in a super quick 15 to 30 minutes’ cycle; a time delay feature that can assist you to start the laundry at a desired time etc. Many of these features dispel the notion that longer wash cycles mean cleaner clothes. In fact, some washing machines come with pre-activated wash cycles that offer shortest wash cycles across all programmes without compromising on cleanliness.

The green quotient

Despite the conveniences washing machines offer, many of them also consume a substantial amount of electricity and water. By paying close attention to performance features, it’s possible to find washing machines that use less water and energy. For example, there are machines which can adjust the levels of water used based on the size of the load. The reduced water usage, in turn, helps reduce the usage of electricity. Further, machines that promise a silent, no-vibration wash don’t just reduce noise – they are also more efficient as they are designed to work with less friction, thus reducing the energy consumed.

Customisable washing modes

Crushed dresses, out-of-shape shirts and shrunken sweaters are stuff of laundry nightmares. Most of us would rather take out the time to hand wash our expensive items of clothing rather than trusting the washing machine. To get the dirt out of clothes, washing machines use speed to first agitate the clothes and spin the water out of them, a process that takes a toll on the fabric. Fortunately, advanced machines come equipped with washing modes that control speed and water temperature depending on the fabric. While jeans and towels can endure a high-speed tumble and spin action, delicate fabrics like silk need a gentler wash at low speeds. Some machines also have a monsoon mode. This is an India specific mode that gives clothes a hot rinse and spin to reduce drying time during monsoons. A super clean mode will use hot water to clean the clothes deeply.

Washing machines have come a long way, from a wooden drum powered by motor to high-tech machines that come equipped with automatic washing modes. Bosch washing machines include all the above-mentioned features and provide damage free laundry in an energy efficient way. With 32 different washing modes, Bosch washing machines can create custom wash cycles for different types of laundry, be it lightly soiled linens, or stained woollens. The ActiveWater feature in Bosch washing machines senses the laundry load and optimises the usage of water and electricity. Its EcoSilentDrive motor draws energy from a permanent magnet, thereby saving energy and giving a silent wash. The fear of expensive clothes being wringed to shapelessness in a washing machine is a common one. The video below explains how Bosch’s unique VarioDrumTM technology achieves damage free laundry.